Method for the automatic material classification and texture simulation for 3D models

ABSTRACT

A method of automatically transforming a computerized 3D model having regions of images utilized as textures on one or more physical objects represented in the 3D model (such as building sides and roofs, walls, landscapes, mountain sides, trees and the like) to include material property information for one or more regions of the textures of the 3D model. In this method, image textures applied to the 3D model are examined by comparing, utilizing a computer, at least a portion of each image texture to entries in a palette of material entries. The material palette entry that best matches the one contained in the image texture is assigned to indicate a physical material of the physical object represented by the 3D model. Then, material property information is stored in the computerized 3D model for the image textures that are assigned a material palette entry.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/964,956 filed Apr. 27, 2018, which is acontinuation of and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/142,361 filed Apr. 29, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,959,667, whichclaims priority to and is a continuation of the patent applicationidentified by U.S. Ser. No. 12/605,980, filed Oct. 26, 2009, now U.S.Pat. No. 9,330,494, entitled “Method for the Automatic MaterialClassification and Texture Simulation for 3D Models”, the entirecontents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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REFERENCE TO A “SEQUENCE LISTING,” A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAMLISTING APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC AND ANINCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF THE MATERIAL ON THE COMPACT DISC (SEE §1.52(E)(5)). THE TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPACT DISCS INCLUDING DUPLICATES ANDTHE FILES ON EACH COMPACT DISC SHALL BE SPECIFIED

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The presently claimed and disclosed invention(s) relate to a materialproperty determination system, and an automated method of assigningmaterial properties to image textures within a 3D model. Moreparticularly, but not by way of limitation, the presently claimed anddisclosed invention(s) uses an automated methodology to determine andassign material properties to images textures applied to the 3D model bycomparing each texture to entries in a palette of material entries andassigning the material palette entry that best matches the one containedin the 3D model image texture.

2. Background of the Art

In the remote sensing/aerial imaging industry, imagery is used tocapture views of a geographic area and be able to measure objects andstructures within the images as well as to be able to determinegeographic locations of points within the image. These are generallyreferred to as “geo-referenced images” and come in two basic categories:

-   -   1. Captured Imagery—these images have the appearance they were        captured by the camera or sensor employed.    -   2. Projected Imagery—these images have been processed and        converted such that they conform to a mathematical projection.

All imagery starts as captured imagery, but as most software cannotgeo-reference captured imagery, that imagery is then reprocessed tocreate the projected imagery. The most common form of projected imageryis the ortho-rectified image. This process aligns the image to anorthogonal or rectilinear grid (composed of rectangles). The input imageused to create an ortho-rectified image is a nadir image—that is, animage captured with the camera pointing straight down.

It is often quite desirable to combine multiple images into a largercomposite image such that the image covers a larger geographic area onthe ground. The most common form of this composite image is the“ortho-mosaic image” which is an image created from a series ofoverlapping or adjacent nadir images that are mathematically combinedinto a single ortho-rectified image.

Technology advancements within the computerized three-dimensionalmodeling industry are providing avenues for physical simulation ofreal-life and hypothetical situations on computer systems. These modelscan provide valuable information for strategic and tactical planning.For example, three-dimensional models of city streets can provide firstresponders information regarding current city developments includingentryway locations, building recognition, and the like. This informationis valuable in reducing response time during emergency conditions.Further, emergency personal can train for emergency situations throughsimulated scenarios provided by or with the three dimensional models.

The introduction of metric oblique imagery by Pictometry InternationalCorp. has led to the creation of very photo-realistic computerized 3Dmodels by the use of regions within oblique images as textures on thebuildings, structures, and objects in the 3D models. This practice notonly results in computerized 3D models that are very visually pleasing,but they also contain information about the objects themselves,including clues to the material composition used to construct thoseobjects.

Identifying the material composition is very important when using the 3Dmodels for simulating real-life and hypothetical situations on computersystems, such as blast simulations, weapons penetration, radio wavepropagation, signal reflectivity, and other scientific studies where thematerial composition comes into play in the calculations. Traditionallythe properties of these materials have been entered by hand in a verylaborious process where an operator selects an individual building orobject in the model and then assigns the appropriate building material.Prior to the creation of photo-realistic 3D models from oblique images,this process could even involve field visits to determine the materialcomposition.

It is highly desirable to automate this process, for two primaryreasons: speed of production and cost savings. However, to date, anautomated method has been elusive because while object or materialrecognition is a rather easy process for people, it is very difficultfor computers. To date, most attempts at automated materialclassification have concentrated on multi-spectral image collection inhopes that enough color signatures can uniquely identify each material.However, in most cases, multi-spectral data is not available or islimited to only a few color bands and therefore insufficient todifferentiate between materials.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention allows for the automated creation of a 3D model that has(1) a natural appearance, (2) material information stored in the 3Dmodel and (3) is preferably geo-referenced to maintain the ability tomeasure and determine geographic coordinates. While the preferredembodiment uses aerial oblique imagery for the textures, the inventionwill also work with non-aerial oblique imagery captured in a variety ofways, including but not limited to cameras mounted obliquely on avertical pole, hand-held cameras aimed obliquely, and cameras mounted atoblique angles on an underwater probe, as well as other types of imagerysuch as nadir imagery.

In one version, the present invention is directed to a method ofautomatically transforming a computerized 3D model having regions ofimages utilized as textures on one or more physical objects representedin the 3D model (such as building sides and roofs, walls, landscapes,mountain sides, trees and the like) to include material propertyinformation for one or more regions of the textures of the 3D model. Inthis method, image textures applied to the 3D model are examined bycomparing, utilizing a computer, at least a portion of each imagetexture to entries in a palette of material entries. The materialpalette entry that best matches the one contained in the image textureis assigned to indicate a physical material of the physical objectrepresented by the 3D model. Then, material property information isstored in the computerized 3D model for the image textures that areassigned a material palette entry.

To improve the comparison between the texture and the entries in thematerial palette, the entries in the material palette can be modifiedsuch that their image resolution matches the image resolution containedin the 3D model image textures prior to comparison.

The material property information stored in the computerized 3D modelcan be stored in fields in the computerized 3D model data directly, or aunique identifier for the selected material palette entry, or an addressto information where the selected material palette entry (or materialproperty) is stored or identified, or other information associated witha material palette entry can be stored in the 3D model data andsubsequently used to retrieve the material property information from alist or database of material properties.

The entries in the palette of material entries can be utilized totexture one or more of the physical objects within the computerized 3Dmodel. That is, once the material palette entry that best matches theone contained in the image texture is assigned to indicate a physicalmaterial of the physical object represented by the 3D model, thematerial palette entry can be utilized as a simulated texture to replaceor enhance the texture one or more physical objects represented in the3D model the 3D model.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the above recited features and advantages of the presentinvention can be understood in detail, a more particular description ofthe invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to theembodiments thereof that are illustrated in the appended drawings. It isto be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typicalembodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be consideredlimiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equallyeffective embodiments.

The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed incolor. Copies of the patent or patent application publication with colordrawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment ofthe necessary fee.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary computerized 3D model with real worldtextures zoomed out to show photo-realism.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of the computerized 3D model depicted inFIG. 1 zoomed in such that the textures are pixilated.

FIG. 3 illustrates a portion of the computerized 3D model depicted inFIG. 1 with one particular building texture highlighted and outlinedusing an edge detection algorithm.

FIG. 4 illustrates a palette of building materials in accordance withthe present invention, showing their numeric match value in relation tothe selected building texture of FIG. 3, with the highest scorehighlighted.

FIG. 5 illustrates the computerized 3D model depicted in FIG. 3 with areal world texture replaced with a simulated texture in accordance withthe present invention, and building material properties in a table offto the side.

FIG. 6 illustrates a portion of the computerized 3D model depicted inFIG. 1 with the real world and simulated textures combined in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 6a is a zoomed in diagram of the model depicted in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 illustrates a portion of the computerized 3D model depicted inFIG. 1 with two particular windows highlighted and outlined using anedge detection algorithm in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary palette of images representing a portionof a physical object, e.g. representative of types of glass, with anumeric match value in relation to the selected windows of FIG. 7, withthe highest score highlighted.

FIG. 9 illustrates the computerized 3D model depicted in FIG. 1 with theimages of the real world windows replaced with their simulated versions.

FIG. 10 illustrates a blast analysis model inside a 3D model.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a computer system as used in the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY DISCLOSED AND CLAIMED INVENTION

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, itis to be understood that the invention is not limited in its applicationto the details of construction, experiments, exemplary data, and/or thearrangement of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of otherembodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also,it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employedherein is for purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting.

The presently claimed and disclosed invention(s) relate to a materialproperty determination system, and an automated method of assigningmaterial properties to image textures within a 3D model. Moreparticularly, but not by way of limitation, the presently claimed anddisclosed invention(s) uses an automated methodology to determine andassign material properties to images textures applied to the 3D model bycomparing each image texture to entries in a palette of imagesrepresenting material entries and assigning the image representing thematerial palette entry that best matches the one contained in the 3Dmodel image texture.

The term texture, as used herein refers to an image, e.g., a digitalimage, representing a surface, a material, a pattern or even a picture.The texture can be created in a variety of manners, such as beinggenerated from a captured or projected image, or generated by an artistor a designer using a bitmap editor software such as Adobe® Photoshop®or Gimp or by scanning an image and, if necessary or desirable,retouching, color balancing, or otherwise processing it on a computersuch as a personal computer, dedicated server or the like.

The texture can be in a suitable format, such as a bitmap format, or avector format. The texture can be built as a large image, larger thanthe final destination (such as page, for example) so as to fill thecomplete area without repeating the image (thus avoiding visible seams).Also bitmap textures can be created to be used as repetitive patterns tofill an infinite area. The borders of these patterns or small texturesshould be treated to give a seamless appearance when applied to animage, unless, of course, the seam is something to be shown.

When designed for print, the textures should be created inhigh-resolution in order to achieve good results in the final print.

When the textures are meant to be used in multimedia, a 3D model or webdesign, they should be created in a maximum resolution that equals theone of the final display (TV, computer monitor, movie projector, etc.).

The term “palette of material entries” as used herein means a given,finite set of textures representative of material properties of physicalmaterials. In particular, each material palette entry represents aparticular type of physical material. As discussed in more detail below,the material palette entry that best matches a particular image texturein the computerized 3D model is assigned to the image texture toindicate a material property of the physical object represented by the3D model.

The term “3D model” as used herein is a collection of data thatrepresent a 3-dimensional object using a collection of points in 3Dspace, connected by various geometric entities such as triangles, lines,curved surfaces, etc. The geometric entities are sometimes called“wireframes” in the art. The 3D model can be created manually orautomatically. One exemplary method for creating a 3D model is describedin a United States patent application identified by U.S. Ser. No.11/998,974 titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RAPID THREE-DIMENSIONALMODELING WITH REAL FACADE TEXTURE,” the entire contents of which areherein incorporated by reference. The 3D model can be constructed invarious manners, such as solid or shell, and can either be a stationary3D model or animated.

In one version, the present invention is directed to a method ofautomatically transforming a computerized 3D model having portions ofimages utilized as textures on one or more physical objects representedin the 3D model to include material property information for one or moreregions of the textures of the 3D model. See FIG. 1 as an example ofsuch a 3D model having portions of images utilized as textures of one ormore physical objects represented in the 3D model. In this method, imagetextures applied to the 3D model (or to be applied to the 3D model) areexamined by comparing, utilizing a computer system 50 (see FIG. 11 asdescribed below), at least a portion of each image texture to entries ina palette of material entries. The material palette entry that bestmatches the one contained in the image texture is assigned to the imagetexture to indicate a physical material of the physical objectrepresented by the 3D model. Then, material property information isstored in the computerized 3D model for the image textures that areassigned a material palette entry.

To improve the comparison between the image textures and the entries inthe material palette, the entries in the material palette can bemodified such that their image resolution matches the image resolutioncontained in the 3D model image textures prior to comparison.

The material property information stored in the computerized 3D modelcan be stored in fields in the computerized 3D model data directly, or aunique identifier for the selected material palette entry, or an addressto information where the selected material palette entry (or materialproperty) is stored or identified, or other information associated witha material palette entry can be stored in the 3D model data and issubsequently used to retrieve the material property or structuralelement information from a list or database of material properties. Forexample, material property or structural element information can bestored as metadata within the 3D model, either appended to the same fileor in another file readily accessible (an industry standard practice isto use the same filename but with a different file extension).

In another aspect of the present invention, the entries in the paletteof material entries can be utilized to texture one or more of the imagetextures representing the physical objects within the computerized 3Dmodel. That is, once the material palette entry that best matches theimage texture is assigned to indicate a physical material of thephysical object represented by the 3D model, the material palette entrycan be utilized as a simulated texture to replace or enhance the imagetexture of one or more physical objects represented in the 3D model.

As would be understood in the art, the presently disclosed and claimedinvention would provide the method to do material classification usingcolor imagery (e.g., red, green, and blue color bands) through the useof oblique images. For example, the color oblique imagery is utilized toprovide initial image textures for the 3D models and then a palette ofpossible building materials is compared to the image texture within the3D model to automatically assign material properties to the portions ofthe image textures contained within the 3D model representing thephysical objects, e.g., the buildings. These methods also provide ameans to automatically size and position simulated textures ofstructural elements, e.g., windows, doors or the like, on the 3D modelbased on those detected in the actual imagery of textures representingthe buildings.

This methodology offers a number of advantages. First, there is no needto do a special data collection in order to make thedeterminations—normal oblique imagery as textures can be used, such asthat described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,356 entitled “Method and Apparatusfor Mapping and Measuring Land”. Second, the method of the presentinvention is highly automated, requiring only quality control and cleanup of any false identifications. Third, by assigning building materialproperties to the palette of available materials, the resulting 3D modelcan be used for blast simulations and other analyses that requireknowledge of the material composition in the model. Fourth, forapplications that require simulated textures, the entry from thematerial palette can replace the actual oblique image texture in the 3Dmodel, thereby greatly reducing the data content in the scene. Fifth,for applications that require extreme close-up views of the 3D model,the entry from the material palette can be used to produce higherresolution textures of the building than is possible from the originalimagery.

The primary methodology includes the step of comparing a particularbuilding texture with one or more, and preferably each, of the entriesin the material palette and then selecting the entry with the bestmatch. To improve on the success rate of the matching process, theentries in the material palette can optionally be pixilated to match theresolution of the actual texture in the 3D model representing thebuilding. FIG. 2 shows a portion of a building 20 shown in FIG. 1wherein the image is zoomed in to illustrate the pixilation that canoccur with differing resolutions of images. This will help make surethat the algorithm is not confused by differences in resolution anddifferences in patterns caused by the differing resolution.

A secondary optional methodology will use an edge detection algorithm toanalyze the textures within the 3D model to locate representations ofpredetermined structural elements, such as structural features, windowsand doors, or the absence of a predetermined structural element, such asa void or a hole. FIGS. 3 and 7 illustrate a structural feature(building surface 22 in FIG. 3) and windows 24 (FIG. 7) as detected andoutlined by the edge detection algorithm. Once the representations ofthe predetermined structural elements are located within the textures,such representations of the structural elements are matched to entriesin a palette of structural elements textures in a similar methodology asdiscussed above in order to find the structural element that bestmatches the representation of the one found in the image texture. Inthis approach, the size and position of structural element (buildingsurface 22 in FIG. 3 or windows 24 in FIG. 7) will be recorded and theselected entry will then be sized and positioned to match.

In both methods, the material information or structural elementinformation added to the 3D model in accordance with the presentinvention, such as the material information from the palette entry orthe identification, size and position of the structural element, can bestored in fields in the computerized 3D model data directly, or one ormore unique identifier(s) for the material or structural elementinformation can be added, or an address to information where thematerial or structural element information is stored or identified, orother information associated with a material palette entry or structuralelement entry can be stored in the 3D model data and subsequently usedto retrieve the material property information or structural elementinformation from a list or database of material properties.

In practice, the methodology disclosed and claimed herein, consists ofmultiple steps and data transformations that can be accomplished by oneof ordinary skill in the art given the present specification. There area number of algorithms already known in the art that can scan thetextures within the 3D model to locate the structural elements. Inaddition, follow-on work could create new algorithms specificallydesigned to deal with the complexities of oblique images.

The textures and the entries in the palettes can be stored in anyformat; including one of many industry standard image formats such asTIFF, JFIF, TARGA, Windows Bitmap File, PNG or any other industrystandard format. FIGS. 4 and 8 illustrate such palette entries whereinthe image textures selected and outlined in FIGS. 3 and 7 (buildingsurface 22 in FIG. 3 or windows 24 in FIG. 7) have been compared to thepalette entries and the resulting comparison value is indicated next toeach palette entry. As would be understood, the palette entry with thehighest comparison value would be selected as the palette entry whichcorresponds to the selected image textures of FIGS. 3 and 7.

As discussed above, a further methodology of the present inventionpermits the application of the texture contained in the palette entriescorresponding to the selected image textures to the 3D model so as toimprove the useable resolution of the 3D model. As would be understood,the application of the palette texture to the 3D model of the structurewould permit a user of the present methodology to zoom in to theparticular structure, e.g., the building 20 of FIG. 2, representedwithin the 3D model without the pixilation that would be normally bepresent. For example, FIGS. 5 and 9 illustrate the application of thepalette textures to the selected and outlined image textures of FIGS. 3and 7 (building surface 22 in FIG. 3 or windows 24 in FIG. 7).

On a larger scale, FIG. 6 illustrates the building 20 shown in FIG. 2wherein the original digital oblique image applied to and representingthe building within the 3D model has been completely replaced by thepalette texture as described above. FIG. 6a illustrates the samebuilding 20 zoomed in so as to show the palette texture in greaterdetail. As can be seen, the zoomed in image shown in FIG. 6a is freefrom the normal pixilation as shown in the zoomed in image of FIG. 2.

As described above, the selected and outlined image textures would alsobe assigned the material properties associated with the palette entrycorresponding to the image texture. In the case of the building 20 shownin FIG. 6, the image texture replaced by the palette texture would alsoinclude the associated material properties.

Referring now to FIG. 10, the output model could also be loaded into ananalysis tool such as Lockheed Martin's TOPSCENE with a plurality ofthreat domes 40 (shown individually as 40 a-40 e) overlaid on top of the3D model. Building material attribution, i.e., consideration of thebuilding material properties, on the 3D model would increase thepredictive capability of a blast or ballistic penetration analysis.Threat domes 40 a-40 e would be understood to vary in size depending onthe building material property assigned to a particular building for agiven blast penetration analysis. That is, an analysis tool could takethe material property assigned to structure(s) into consideration whenanalyzing different scenarios, e.g., a blast scenario, in order toprovide improved predictive capabilities. For example, a blast occurringinside a structure constructed with glass walls would readily beunderstood to result in a different blast scenario than a similar blastoccurring inside a structure constructed with brick walls.

It should be understood that the processes described above can beperformed with the aid of a computer system 50 running image processingsoftware adapted to perform the functions described above, and theresulting images and data are stored on one or more computer readablemediums. FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary embodimentof a computer system 50 constructed in accordance with the presentinvention. The computer system 50 includes a processor 52 incommunication with a computer readable medium 56, an input/outputinterface 54 and a communication interface 58. The input/outputinterface 54 is further in communication with input/output devices 62a-d. As would be understood in the art, the computer system 50 canfurther utilize additional input/output devices (not shown) which wouldpermit a user to enter, process and produce an output of a 3D modelconstructed in accordance with the present invention. For example, thecomputer system 50 could further include a digital tablet, an opticalscanner, an external computer readable medium and the like.

The communication interface 58 is in communication with communicationnetwork 60. Communication network 60 provides a mechanism for thecomputer system 50 to transmit and/or receive information between thecomputer system 50 and external devices/systems, such as digital images,3D models and the like. Communication network 60 can be implementedusing any commonly available communication mediums, such as wireless,wired, TCP/IP, fiber optic and the like.

Computer readable medium 56 permits storage and retrieval of digitalinformation (data) and also computer executable code as utilized in thepresent invention. Examples of a computer readable medium 56 include anoptical storage device, a magnetic storage device, an electronic storagedevice or the like.

As would be understood in the art, the term “Computer System” as usedherein means a system or systems that are able to embody and/or executethe logic of the processes described herein. The logic embodied in theform of software instructions or firmware may be executed on anyappropriate hardware which may be a dedicated system or systems, or ageneral purpose computer system, or distributed processing computersystem, all of which are well understood in the art, and a detaileddescription of how to make or use such computers is not deemed necessaryherein. When the computer system is used to execute the logic of theprocesses described herein, such computer(s) and/or execution can beconducted at a same geographic location or multiple different geographiclocations. Furthermore, the execution of the logic can be conductedcontinuously or at multiple discrete times. Further, such logic can beperformed about simultaneously with the capture of the images, orthereafter or combinations thereof.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail byway of illustration and example for purposes of clarity ofunderstanding, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art thatcertain changes and modifications may be practiced without departingfrom the spirit and scope thereof, as described in this specificationand as defined in the appended claims below.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of automatically creating a computerized3D model to include material property information for one or moreregions of image textures of the computerized 3D model, comprising thesteps of: creating a computerized 3D model having image textures;examining, using computer executable code executed on a computer, aportion of a first image texture of the computerized 3D model havingunknown material properties, by: comparing, using computer executablecode executed on the computer, the portion of the first image texture tosecond texture images of material entries in a palette of materialentries stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium to determinea best match for the first image texture, the palette of materialentries comprising a set of the second texture images having simulatedtextures, the second texture images associated with material propertiesof physical materials, the material properties having material propertyinformation about the physical materials; and assigning the materialentry in the palette that best matches the portion of the first imagetexture to the first image texture to indicate a physical material of aphysical object represented by the portion of the first image texture;storing the material property information of the assigned material entrythat best matched the portion of the first image texture; andassociating the material property information with the portion of thefirst image texture of the computerized 3D model and replacing theportion of the first image texture with the simulated texture of theassigned material entry.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the methodcomprises the step of modifying an image resolution of at least one ofthe first image texture and the second texture images of the materialentries in the palette of material entries to match, prior to the stepof comparing the first image texture to the second texture images of thematerial entries in the palette of material entries.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the material property information is stored in fieldsin the computerized 3D model.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thestored material property information includes a unique identifier forthe assigned material entry and wherein the method further comprises thestep of retrieving the material property information from a list ordatabase of material properties using the unique identifier.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first image texture is based at least inpart on imagery captured by a camera.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinthe imagery is aerial imagery.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein theimagery is imagery captured by one or more hand-held camera.
 8. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the imagery is one or more of nadir imageryand oblique imagery.
 9. A method of automatically creating acomputerized 3D model, comprising the steps of: using a computer systemto perform the steps of: creating a computerized 3D model having imagetexture; locating, with one or more processors executing computerexecutable instructions stored on one or more non-transitory computerreadable medium, image texture representations of structural roofelements in the 3D model, utilizing an edge detection algorithm on the3D model; examining, using computer executable code executed on thecomputer system, at least a portion of the image texture representationsof structural roof elements in the 3D model, by: comparing, with the oneor more processors executing computer executable instructions stored onthe one or more non-transitory computer readable medium, the imagetexture representations of structural roof elements in the 3D model tosimulated textures of entries in a palette of structural elementtextures representing structural elements stored on the computer systemto determine best matches for the examined portion of the image texturerepresentations of the structural roof elements in the 3D model;assigning, with the one or more processors executing computer executableinstructions stored on the one or more non-transitory computer readablemedium, the entries in the palette of structural element textures withthe best match to the examined portion of the image texturerepresentations of the structural roof element found in the 3D model;associating, with the one or more processors executing computerexecutable instructions stored on the one or more non-transitorycomputer readable medium, material property information about thematerial from the entries in the palette of structural element textureswith the best match with the 3D model at the same size and position asthe examined portion of the image texture representations of thestructural roof elements as found in the 3D model by the edge detectionalgorithm; and replacing, with the one or more processors executingcomputer executable instructions stored in the one or morenon-transitory computer readable medium, in the 3D model the imagetexture representation of the structural roof elements with thesimulated texture of the entries in the palette of structural elementtextures with the best match.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising the step of modifying an image resolution of the simulatedtextures of entries in the palette of structural element textures tomatch an image resolution of the image texture of the 3D model.
 11. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the step of associating material propertyinformation is defined further as storing material property informationof the entries in the palette of structural element textures with thebest match in a field in the computerized 3D model directly.
 12. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the step of associating material propertyinformation is defined further as the steps of storing a uniqueidentifier for the entries in the palette of structural element textureswith the best match in the computerized 3D model and subsequently usingthe unique identifier to retrieve the material property information fromat least one of a list and a database of material properties.
 13. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the simulated textures have an imageresolution greater than an image resolution of the image texture of the3D model.
 14. A system for automatically creating a computerized 3Dmodel to include material property information for one or more regionsof image textures of the computerized 3D model, the system comprising: acomputer comprising; a processor; and a non-transitory computer readablemedium storing computer executable code that when executed by theprocessor causes the computer to: create a computerized 3D model havingimage texture; examine at least a portion of a first image texture ofthe computerized 3D model having unknown material properties, bycomparing the first image texture to second texture images of materialentries in a palette of material entries stored on the non-transitorycomputer readable medium, the palette of material entries comprising aset of the second texture images having simulated textures, the secondtexture images associated with material properties of physicalmaterials, the material properties having material property informationabout the physical material; determine the material entry in the palettewith a best match for the first image texture; assign the material entryin the palette that best matches the first image texture to the 3D modelat the same size and position as the examined portion of the first imagetexture to indicate a physical material represented by the examinedportion of the first image texture, the non-transitory computer readablemedium storing the material property information of the assignedmaterial entry; and replace the portion of the first image texture withthe simulated texture of the assigned material entry.
 15. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the material property information of the assignedmaterial entry is stored in fields in the computerized 3D model.
 16. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the material property information includes aunique identifier for the assigned material entry and wherein thenon-transitory computer readable medium further stores computerexecutable code that when executed by the processor causes the computerto retrieve the material property information from a list or database ofmaterial properties using the unique identifier.
 17. The system of claim14, wherein the first image texture is based at least in part on imagerycaptured by a camera, and wherein the imagery is one or more of obliqueimagery, nadir imagery, aerial imagery, and captured by one or morehand-held camera.